Arencibia wants to learn to catch Dickey and will be doing so for the United States in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. But general manager Alex Anthopoulos has said he might keep Blanco and stash Thole in the minors, even though Thole has a guaranteed two-year, $2.5-million contract.

Thole was the primary catcher for Dickey's 20-win Cy Young Award season in 2012. A Met since he was drafted in the 13th round in 2005, Thole said he was "caught off-guard" when he learned he was part of the Dickey megadeal.